By Deborah Larsen
William Lawrence Holland Jr.
William Lawrence Holland Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 30, 1922, the son of William and Marion Dollimore Holland. The Holland family settled in Avon Township when William was a child and started a greenhouse business on Norton Lawn Road. He attended Rochester High School and graduated in the class of 1941.
In February 1943, William entered the U.S. Navy and trained as a submarine torpedo man. He was stationed aboard the USS Dolphin. The Dolphin was a school ship used to train submariners at the Atlantic submarine base at New London, Connecticut. William was discharged from military service in February 1946.
After the war, William used his G.I. Bill to study commercial floriculture at UCLA and attend floral design school. His parents helped him open a florist shop on Main Street in Rochester in 1948, and he ran Holland’s Floral and Gifts until his death.
William Lawrence Holland Jr. died at age 60 on September 4, 1983, and was laid to rest in Mount Avon Cemetery.